Death and the Emperor

Bonus Chapter: Lantern in the Night

Author's Note: This started out as a deleted scene from the last chapter of Book 1, which I then expanded on to make another bonus chapter.

Lantern in the Night

Sometimes you've gotta bleed
Before you heal enough
To keep the dark at bay
– Rachel Rose Mitchell, Lantern in the Night

The lattice lanterns cast weird shapes on the walls. The potion bubbled in the cauldron over the fire. Qihadal gnawed at her fingernails as she waited for it to brew. She refused to let herself think of anything but the task at hand.

All will be well soon.

She had repeated those words to herself, over and over, in the weeks since... what happened.

In the days after the guardsman had dragged her to his room, those words had been all that kept her sane. No one would find out. If she went on with her life, kept her arms covered until the bruises faded, acted just as she always had, she would keep this a secret until her dying day. All would be well.

In the days when she began to feel ill, she kept repeating those words. Perhaps it was just a stomach bug. Perhaps she had eaten something that disagreed with her. Perhaps she had caught a cold from one of her sisters. All would be well.

When she sneaked out late one night to pay a visit to a witch doctor, when her worst fears were confirmed, those words became her lifeline. The witch doctor had given her ingredients for a potion and directions to brew it. The potion would induce a miscarriage. No one would ever know there had been a child. All would be well.

And that brought her here, to this out-of-the-way prayer-room that was used only on festival days.

Qihadal had no idea what a miscarriage involved, other than the death of an unborn child. From the whispers she had overheard among the palace midwives, however, she suspected it would involve a lot of blood. So she had carefully collected every scrap of paper she could find, and covered the floor with it.

Now all she had to do was wait.

~~~~

Death's job took her all over the known universe, and into the unknown universe too. Tonight it took her to the Kumdegalaa Sea to the south-west of Malish. The ship Valgurdib had been sailing into the port city of Needashath when it struck a rock. Death and some of her Reapers went to collect the souls of the victims.

And to think some people believe I enjoy my work, Death thought as she materialised underwater to gather souls from the submerged bodies. I should let them struggle through deep water or burning buildings for once. See how much they like it.

Despite her displeasure with some of the places she had to gather souls, she didn't truly mind her work. But she was still more than happy when it was temporarily finished and she could metaphorically catch her breath.

Now, was anything interesting about to happen anywhere nearby?

She mentally reviewed the events that she knew were fated to happen today. Very few of them were of interest to anyone but the Malishese. She certainly wasn't going to waste her time with a brawl breaking out at a fish market, especially when it was settled without bloodshed.

But then she remembered an event that would have a great impact on the futures of many people. And it was happening right now.

~~~~

Fate worked subtly. Let Death and her children attend to the flashy, dramatic disasters; Fate was content to work with the mundane, overlooked events. An orphanage catching fire would draw more attention, it was true, but the fire would never have occurred without a carelessly-thrown match on a hot day.